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» 3540,- € |
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» 28,80 € |
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» 15,95 € |
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» 38,90 € |
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» 35,90 € |
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Wettpunkt wins again!
27.06.2008 |
© Round Britain 2008, Leg 5 |
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| Hannes Bohinc, Ed Williams-Hawkes and Max Holzfeind arrived in Edinburgh ahead of the field on day seven of the ten-day Round Britain Offshore Powerboat Race to claim another victory for the Wettpunkt.com team. Despite choppy conditions, the 1800hp Isotta Fraschini-powered craft completed the event's longest stage with 240 statute miles at an average speed of 84.36mph in a little under three hours to further establish the team's credentials as one of the outstanding performers. "It was an uncomfortable ride and we are all pretty exhausted," commented a drained Hannes Bohinc. "But we won and made up more time on our rivals; the boat is running well and we could not have asked for much more. Ed's navigating is always top-class and Max is proving his talents as an engineer as well as a driver. If he had not detected one of two small problems when we arrived in Scotland we may not have completed today's stage. As it is, we completed it, won it, and with the boat and engines running perfectly, we're looking confidently ahead to the remaining stages." |
© Round Britain 2008, Chris Davis |
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© Round Britain 2008, Chris Davis |
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| Wettpunkt.Com finished 12 minutes ahead of Venturer driven Andy Macateer, a boat that although first in the RB1 class, was previously lying 18th overall. This second placing for Venturer illustrates this great offshore battle is far from over and is going to be a bow to bow up to the Portsmouth finishing line on Monday. Third place was filled by the Greek entered Blue FPT driven by Vassilis Pateras and Dag Pike, the British navigational expert. Previously lying second overall and leading the MC1 class, Blue FPT was 13 minutes 12 seconds behind the Norwegian entered Rib Lionhead at Inverness. Despite this impressive result she only reduced her elapsed time by less than two minutes on this leg over the leading Norwegian, Pal Sollie, who bought Lionhead home fourth. With such high performance by the Goldfish Rib, Blue FPT will need to work hard to swing the final outcome. |
© Round Britain 2008, Chris Davis |
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© Round Britain 2008, Chris Davis |
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| The pace is beginning to tell with some hulls and machinery protesting at the punishment. Four days of racing from the Channel to Northern Ireland to the Scottish highlands and now downhill to southern waters has seen some teams working through the night to remain in the contest. Cinzano 558 of three-man crew, Tim Grimshaw, Eric Smillie and Nick Keyser worked frantically to get their boat up to Inverness after suffering a multitude of mechanical problems at the Portsmouth start. Working through Thursday night they just managed to reach the start line only to break down yet again a few miles later. The Belgium entered Birretta driven by Thomas Vandamme and Jean-Pierre Neels lying ninth overall suffered an engine fire an hour after the start. Once extinguished its determined crew maintained their heading for Edinburgh on one engine. Another suffering a mountain of problems but now rewarded with a tenth place on this leg, was the Top Gear entered Garmin driven by Iain May and Rowland MacDowie and Jeff Hunton. With Gremlins apparently sorted, this one looks set for a good finish at Portsmouth. |
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